1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a curtain airbag system.
2. Description of Related Art
A curtain airbag system is known which includes a main inflatable portion provided at a seating location at which an occupant is seated, and an auxiliary inflatable portion that is constantly in fluid communication with the main inflatable portion via a reduced-diameter portion and is located off the occupant seating location (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-161163 (JP 2007-161163 A)). It is also known to provide a curtain airbag with a second deployment portion that extends below the belt line, at a location other than the occupant seating location (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-161167 (JP 2007-161167 A)). In a further known example of curtain airbag, an extended deployment portion that is deployed anterior to a roof side portion of the vehicle is folded back onto a first deployment portion, and the first deployment portion and the extended deployment portion are folded and stored in the roof side portion (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 4481575).
In the systems as described in JP 2007-161163 A and JP 2007-161167 A, a front portion of the curtain airbag body is stored along the front pillar, which makes it difficult to use the curtain airbag system of this type in a vehicle having narrow front pillars. In the system as described in Japanese Patent No. 4481575, the extended deployment portion that is to be deployed in front of the roof side portion is small, and is not suitably used for protecting an occupant in a rollover event.